At their regular meeting March 22, 2021, the Fremont Neighborhood Council Board unanimously adopted this statement to express the Council’s sympathy with the AAPI community, and the family and friends of victims of the Atlanta spa shootings.

Resolution in Support of the Asian American Pacific Islander Community

The Fremont Neighborhood Council of Seattle grieves with the Asian American-Pacific Islander community for the harms and losses recently suffered here and around the nation in violent attacks on its members, attacks rooted in racism, sexism, and xenophobic fearmongering. “The series of recent assaults on Asians here and in San Francisco are contemptible.”1) And we especially condemn the fatal Atlanta shootings which murdered six Asian women–Tan Xiaojie, 49, Feng Daoyou, 44, Park Soon Chung, 74, Hyun Jung Grant, 51,Yue Yong Ae, 63, Kim Suncha, 69—and two others–Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54. 

These assaults are neither new nor isolated.2) Last May, for example, our neighboring Ballard saw attacks at Golden Gardens and on Market Street.3) These attacks are horrific, increasing, and entirely unjustified. We condemn anti-Asian statements by leaders at all levels of government that have provided incitement and justification for such attacks. We commend government leaders speaking out and taking action against such hate.4)

We in Washington state have a special obligation to address this problem, as “Washington ranks fourth highest in the U.S. for harassment against Asians in 2020, much of it falsely associating Asians of varying ethnicities with the spread of coronavirus, according to group Stop AAPI Hate, which has been tracking incidents of anti-Asian American hate throughout the country since last March.” 5)

The Fremont Neighborhood Council pledges itself as allies against bigotry, bias, hate and violence. As family, friends, and neighbors to Asian American and Pacific Islanders, we commit to working together to combat hate and bias and uphold our shared vision of safety and freedom for all.

We invite the Fremont community to join us in this expression of solidarity and support as we honor the memory of precious lives lost. We want to lift the statements offered by organizations supporting API communities in Seattle, including InterimCDA and ACRS. In particular, we encourage anyone in need of mental health support to contact ACRS at (206) 695-7600. And anyone who experiences or witnesses a hate crime to report it to CISC, using the numbers or email listed in InterimCDA’s statement.

—Notes—

1) S.F. police are increasing patrols in Asian American communities in wake of Atlanta spa shootings, March 17, 2021  San Francisco Chronicle 

2) “Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center born of San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department, tracked more than 3,700 self-reported hate instances across the U.S. over the past year. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, a research office at Cal State San Bernardino, found a total of 122 anti-Asian hate crimes last year in a survey of police departments in 16 major U.S. cities — a 149% increase from the 49 in 2019.” ‘I might be dead right now’: Asian man describes brutal attack on S.F. street, March 18, 2021  LA Times 

3) Seattle police search for suspect after 3 bias incidents targeting Asians reported in Ballard, May 24, 2020” Seattle Times

4) Hundreds gather for rallies in western Washington to stop Asian hate, March 21, 2021 KING-5

5)Puget Sound rallies call for stop to anti-Asian hate crimes, March 15, 2021 KING-5 and PHOTO ESSAY: Hing Hay Protest in Wake of Atlanta Shooting South Seattle Emerald